Tampa City Council member Luis Viera (2nd from left) was among those who attended the organizational meeting for the Ashington Estates at Tampa Palms Neighborhood Watch program. (Photos by Charmaine George)
When Tampa Police Dept. (TPD) Chief Lee Bercaw and District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera co-hosted the New Tampa Public Safety Town Hall meeting on July 1, Chief Bercaw told those in attendance that if they want to be an even greater asset to their local law enforcement officials, they should join their community’s Neighborhood Watch program — or start a new one if their neighborhood didn’t already have one.
Ashington Estates at Tampa Palms resident Kevin Kelly took that advice to heart, as he immediately began to organize a new Neighborhood Watch group for his subdivision of about 100 homes. On July 5 — the Friday afternoon of the 4th of July holiday weekend and less than two weeks following the TPD Town Hall — there were ten TPD officers, Viera and several of Kelly’s fellow residents meeting inside the gates of Ashington Estates, only a few weeks after the series of violent crimes that touched New Tampa.
And, although the TPD officers outnumbered the number of Ashington residents who stopped by the organizational meeting while yours truly and photographer Charmaine George were on hand, Kelly said he was encouraged by the turnout and support that day.
“We had about 14-15 residents in attendance overall, including drive-bys,” Kelly said after the meeting. “We currently have 21 in our neighborhood watch group and two of those signed up for our Facebook group since the roll call.”
As his community’s new Neighborhood Watch coordinator, Kelly also said he was, “very pleased with our police turnout. It shows their interest in Neighborhood Watch groups and the synergy those groups bring to the Police Department. I honestly only expected about 10 neighbors for this first roll call, so we surpassed that by a little.”
Those who did attend basically heard the TPD officers recap what happened during New Tampa’s week of three violent events that left four people dead and two others injured, with only one arrest having been made. The officers explained that the incident that occurred on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. on June 17 was being investigated by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), but that TPD always works closely with HCSO and was being updated on that case.
Meanwhile, the Ashington Estates neighbors talked about things like people from other neighborhoods fishing in their pond, as there had never been any actual crime reported in their community, but TPD Major Brett Owen explained that hosting regular Neighborhood Watch meetings and occasional events will help keep the police — and the community — informed about anything that does happen inside those gates.
As to how Kelly hopes to increase participation in the program, he said, “I’m trying to get some work parties together for small jobs in the neighborhood’s common areas (trimming, painting, etc.), which I’ve already suggested to our Homeowners Association’s president.”
Kelly also said that he hopes to see, “more social media interaction within our group. It’s been a bit slow up to this point, so regular interactions should generate interest. Our information mechanisms of choice currently are Facebook and WhatsApp.”
Kelly also said that the Neighborhood Watch’s next meeting has not yet been planned, but that there were now “tentative plans” to do something for National Night Out (Tuesday, August 6), but that nothing specific had yet been planned at our press time.
Dist. 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera (left) and Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw at the Public Safety Town Hall meeting in Tampa Palms on July 1. (Photo by Charmaine George)
I wanted to update the New Tampa community about what is happening at City Hall.
Homicides in New Tampa
As everyone knows, the New Tampa community has been rocked by a number of recent homicides. Public safety is always issue number one with me. I have always proudly stood with our police and fire departments even in tough political times, with hits from both left and right.
On July 1, 2024, I put together a town hall in New Tampa where Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw briefed the community. The turnout showed that New Tampa is united against crime and that we are ready to respond. Our cops in New Tampa know we support them. I will continue to support our cops and push for a Public Safety Master Plan.
We will be having a follow up town hall on Tuesday, July 30, 6 p.m., at Compton Park in Tampa Palms. I hope to see you there.
New Tampa Fire Response Times
Next is the Tampa Fire Rescue (TFR) Department. Since I took office, we have built two new fire stations for North and New Tampa — with a third coming for North Tampa. The problem for New Tampa is not call volume, but response times — especially for K-Bar Ranch.
I have been working with TFR for a plan for New Tampa. I favor a modular station for K-Bar Ranch — something the Administration opposes. So, if I can not get a home run, I will fight for a double. That means another vehicle for Station 22 for response times. And (as reported a couple of issues ago), working on a potential “cut through” on Morris Bridge Rd. to provide easier access to K-Bar Ranch from TFR Station No. 22 on Cross Creek Blvd.
I tell people: whether it is a new station, a cut through, another vehicle or 10 Our Fathers and 10 Hail Marys, I will work for any solution that addresses this problem.
K-Bar Ranch Park
In this year’s budget, I asked for design funding for a multi-acre city park in K-Bar Ranch. This will set up this project for construction funding in the coming years.
I hope this will create a pathway for a cricket field presence in New Tampa, something the Indian-Americans in our area have long lobbied for. If we secure the design money, then the public engagement process begins, and I will push hard for a cricket presence in this space. If this passes, it will likely be built after I leave office — but I want to make sure that this moves forward now for K-Bar Ranch.
We need to make sure City Hall knows that New Tampa – the Alaska of Tampa – exists and has needs.
About The 2024 Elections
We’ve all got a big election coming up. People have their opinions — God knows I have mine — but I tell everyone this: Do not empower the idea that we are one another’s enemies because of our mainstream differences.
As an elected official, I work with anyone who will help me improve the lives of my constituent — Republican or Democrat.
Let’s see the best in one another as Americans. In this acute time, there is no greater American challenge than to build bridges with one another — and build back normalcy. Ever wonder how extreme movements like “Defund the Police” or “Stop the Steal” on January 6th get so much oxygen? They happen when we let politics become our identity. So, stop yelling at MSNBC or Fox and instead go to church, go for a walk or chat with your neigh bor about baseball or something.
Tampa City Council Pay Raises
Lastly, I have received many calls and seen many comments about the recent Tampa City Council pay raise, where my fellow Council members voted 4-3 to give us all a 40% pay raise. I wanted to explain my “No” vote.
Here is my view: a pay raise makes sense. But, it’s the timing that kills me. The 27th Amendment of our Constitution mandates that Congress first vote on a pay raise, then have an election, then get the benefit of it. If this formula is good enough for Congress, then it should be good enough for City Council, too.
A higher salary will allow more people from different backgrounds to run for Council — a good result. But, why have us benefit before voters have their say on who gets this amount? Makes sense to me and, I bet, to many of you, too.
Conclusion
Know what a pleasure it has been to represent you. I have been in office almost eight years with political ups and downs, but with my constituents it has always been a pleasure.
Also know that I always remain available at luis.viera@tampagov.net.
Updating the story that we last updated in our May 28 New Tampa issue, despite some other recent published reports that said that Potbelly Sandwich Works was getting ready to announce an opening date in the former Oronzo Honest Italian space in The Walk at Highwoods Preserve plaza on BBD, I can assure you that the earliest the popular sandwich shop with more than 425 locations across the U.S. is still at least several months away from being able to open here.
Yes, Ron Asmar, the president of RTA Restaurant Group, LLC, has added four additional Potbelly locations to his commitment, with the New Tampa shop expected to open in “late spring/ summer” of this year, but based on what I’ve seen inside (right photo above, taken July 11), and what the person working inside said, there is little chance the new Potbelly will be open before the fourth quarter of 2024, and could even take until the start of 2025.
That is bad news for the multiple people I’ve seen since our last story ran two months ago, who told me they love Potbelly’s “Hot Sandwiches (and soups) and Chill Vibes,” as well as for anyone in our area (like me) who is always on the lookout for new places, even if they are national chains.
As I also said in May, feel free to visit the location at 4738 N. Dale Mabry Hwy. (near Raymond James Stadium) or the one at 2520 S. Falkenburg Rd. (near Brandon) for the Chicago-based chain’s “famous toasty sandwiches, soups, salads, fresh-baked cookies and hand-spun milkshakes.” — GN
Judge ‘Quashes’ County Commission’s Decision To Prevent Rezoning Of The Golf Course. So, What’s Next?
Long-time Pebble Creek resident Leslie Green, who started the “Save Pebble Creek” organization, says her only motivation is to preserve the natural beauty of her community. Green is waiting to see what happens next in the attempt to rezone the Pebble Creek golf course.
Long-time Pebble Creek resident Leslie Green is still in limbo, but it’s nothing new for the founder of “Save Pebble Creek,” the organization she started two years ago in an effort to prevent Pebble Creek Golf Club owner Bill Place and his Ace Golf from rezoning the golf course land to allow for further residential development.
Development company GL Homes had attempted to rezone the 149-acre golf course property in order to build 250 single-family homes. At that time, Green and her Save Pebble Creek group began holding community meetings and distributing petitions asking the community to oppose Place’s plan to sell the golf course to GL Homes. And, although there were some members of the community who supported the idea of redeveloping the shuttered golf course, the campaign resulted in a flurry of emails to Hillsborough County Commission Chair and District 2 Commissioner Ken Hagan.
Place then sued Green for defaming his character and for interfering with his attempts to find a developer. She filed a countersuit in May 2022, but then sought to have Place’s suit dismissed under Florida’s Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) statute. A little more than two years later, that case still has not been decided.
In July of 2023, GL Homes’ attempt to rezone the golf course property was denied 5-2 by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), after Hagan said he had received 1,800 letters from residents of the community, the vast majority of which were in opposition to the rezoning.
Green, whose home has faced the golf course for more than 30 years, applauded Hagan’s efforts to preserve the beauty of her community. Hagan said at the time that Place only had a couple of options going forward:
“He can come up with another developer with a different plan that might be more acceptable to the residents,” Comm. Hagan said after the July 17 meeting. “We’ve also discussed the possibility of the county purchasing the golf club to convert it to a county-owned course, but he (Place) would have to come down in price a lot for us to be interested.”
Green also suggested that Place might’ve been waiting for this year’s elections, when three of the seven Commission seats are up for grabs, in the hopes that perhaps the new commissioners might look more favorably upon the rezoning proposal.
But, GL Homes found another option. In October of last year, the home builder appealed the county commission’s denial of the rezoning request to Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Paul Huey.
At the June 10 Town Hall meeting hosted by County Commissioner Ken Hagan, Leslie Green thanked Hagan for his efforts to prevent the rezoning of the Pebble Creek golf course.
Eight months later, on June 24, Judge Huey “quashed” the decision by the BOCC to deny the rezoning, which means, in legal terms, “to set aside or void.” (Note-For a lot more information about why the BOCC’s decision was quashed, see page 4.) It also meant that now, the county had its own decision to make: Either ask Judge Huey for a rehearing, appeal the judge’s verdict to a higher court, or allow GL Homes to proceed with its development plan.
On July 5, the county filed a petition to the Circuit Court for a rehearing.
Judge Huey’s ruling on the developer’s appeal was that, “The court cannot find that the Board of County Commissioners relied on competent, substantial evidence when it denied GL Homes’ proposal.”
The judge also felt that the BOCC’s decision was more of a personal attack on Place, even though neither he nor his Ace Golf submitted the rezoning proposal. Although the Board’s original decision was based on the rezoning “not being infill and not compatible with the Comprehensive Plan,” the judge saw that GL Homes’ rezoning request was recommended for BOCC approval by the county’s Planning Commission and the zoning hearing master (ZHM), both of which said the proposed development was consistent with the comprehensive plan.
The judge also noted that Hagan said he was basing his decision to deny the rezoning, in part, on the Pebble Creek resident emails that accused Place of “spiteful tactics, intimidation, vindictiveness, innuendo, and fearmongering.”
But, in its petition for rehearing, the county claims that Judge Huey, “overlooked record evidence or misapprehended several points of law or fact in a manner that the County believes fundamentally affected the Court’s Order Granting Petition for Writ of Certiorari (“Order”). The County requests rehearing and requests that this Court rescind its Order Granting Petition for Writ of Certiorari and issue an Order Denying Petition for Writ of Certiorari.”
In other words, the county said that Judge Huey did not consider all of the factual evidence upon which the county based its decision, claiming, “The Application for rezoning as proposed would result in a complete change to the character of the existing community, by eliminating the central feature of a neighborhood which has existed for decades. Further, this decision has the potential to impact redevelopment of other similar communities within the State of Florida.”
The county’s arguments for requesting the rehearing included the following:
1. There was Competent Substantial Evidence for the BOCC to Deny Petitioner’s Application. As the Court notes in its Order, the Florida Supreme Court has set forth a framework that requires rezoning applicants to prove that their proposal is consistent with the comprehensive plan and complies with all procedural requirements of the zoning ordinance. If a rezoning applicant provides competent, substantial evidence that its application is consistent with the comprehensive plan, the Board may still deny the application to accomplish “a legitimate public purpose,” at which point the Board has “the burden of showing that the refusal to rezone the property is not arbitrary, discriminatory, or unreasonable.”
2. The county’s petition also says, “Ultimately, the Court concluded that there was no competent substantial evidence that the Application did not comply with the Comprehensive Plan, nor was there competent substantial evidence to support the County’s legitimate public purpose for denying the Application. However, in reaching the above conclusions, the Court overlooked competent substantial record evidence on which the Board could have relied, or misapprehended several points of law or fact.”
“Under this Court’s limited scope of review, it must be determined whether the record contains any competent substantial evidence to support the Board’s denial. In evaluating the evidence presented, it does not matter whether there is also evidence to support a conclusion different from that reached by the Board for ‘the point is that when the facts are such as to give the County Commission a choice between alternatives, it is up to the County Commission to make that choice — not the circuit court.’”
As for the evidence that the BOCC made the correct decision, here is a summary of what the petition for rehearing says:
1. [The Application] is inconsistent with he Comprehensive Plan.
2. The open space character of the subject property is an integral part of the neighborhood.
3. The removal of the open space around which the surrounding existing neighborhood was developed and constructed would not protect nor maintain the neighborhood’s character
4. The golf course was opened in 1967, five years before the Pebble Creek Planned Development was rezoned. The golf course was included as a central part of the zoning, and integral to the neighborhood design.
5. The golf course also was an integral part of the neighborhood’s character. The golf course is identified on the plan as the center of the planned development, around which the other uses in the neighborhood were designed and planned.
6. Because the golf course came first, it is a central component — or cornerstone — of that planned development. To completely replace this use, which currently makes up 25 percent of the acreage of the planned development, with additional residential housing, is a significant change to the character of this golf course community.
7. There is testimony in the record taken by the ZHM that supplements the other record evidence that the existing 150-acre golf course is the centerpiece of the neighborhood, and that to completely eliminate its use and to replace it with a residential development would be to lose an integral part of the neighborhood itself.
8. Pebble Creek was “uniquely designed” to incorporate the golf course, and by removing it “you are removing the very thing that built the community.” The golf course was a “primary reason” or “major factor” for some of the homeowners to live in the community.
9. In the Court’s Order, the Court notes that “[t]he Board argues logically that because the neighborhood was designed and built around the golf course, the land acts as a fundamental ‘centerpiece,’” which appears to imply that that the Board’s determination about the neighborhood having been designed and built around the golf course was based merely on logic and inference, rather than substantial competent evidence in the record. However, the County used future land use maps, zoning maps, the prior approved plan, and lay witness fact-based testimony to support its determination.
10. The Board also cited evidence that supports that the retention of the existing zoning accomplishes “a legitimate public purpose.” As argued at the Hearing, the legitimate public purpose is to protect the character of the neighborhood, which is not only a recognized public purpose under current case law, but also a mandate of the County’s Comprehensive Plan.
11. Judge Huey also ruled that the Board’s decision was based, in part, on the belief that the president of Ace Golf “lacks good sense and common decency.” However, the basis for the Board’s denial must be found in its adopted resolution, and not in singular comments made by a particular commissioner regarding an application or voting on an application.
The Board’s petition concluded that, “The record contained competent, substantial evidence that the Application was inconsistent with the County’s Comprehensive Plan, and that there was a legitimate public purpose to maintain the existing zoning, and therefore support a denial of the Application. Moreover, the Court misstated the Board’s reasons for denial of the Application by relying on a commissioners’ comments rather than the Board-adopted resolution.”
Comm. Hagan says that once Judge Huey rules on the Petition for Rehearing, the county has 30 days to accept his decision or appeal the judge’s ruling to an appellate court.
Meanwhile, Green says, “We still feel that the BOCC made the right decision and the rehearing will give them the opportunity to give the judge more clarity to see that they did in fact use proper evidence in making their decision.”
The bottom line, she adds, is that, “This is my home. Rezoning the golf course will change completely the character and beauty of our neighborhood forever.”
She’s holding out hope that the county’s Tampa Sports Authority will be able to purchase the golf course and reopen it, as Comm. Hagan mentioned could happen at his June 10 New Tampa Town Hall meeting (as we reported last issue).
In the meantime, all Leslie Green can do is continue to wait.
I don’t know if I’d agree that it is (as some have called it) the “Greatest Musical of All Time,” but I do know that the New Tampa Players’ production of “Singin’ in the Rain” at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center (NTPAC) offers a super-fun evening (or afternoon) of entertainment!
The Neighborhood News was on hand for last night’s opening night of “Singin'” and there’s no doubt that the talented cast and crew of NTP’s production of the show — which originally was one of the first great movie musicals starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor and Jean Hagen — do justice to this story of two Hollywood stars trying to transition from silent films to “talkies.”
With great singing and dancing by Kyle Billington in Kelly’s role as Don Lockwood, Olivia Carr in the Reynolds role of talented starlet Kathy Selden, Rhett Ricardo as Lockwood’s best friend Cosmo Brown (the role made famous by O’Connor), and the scene-stealing Melanie Bierweiler absolutely nailing the Oscar-nominated Hagen role as Lina Lamont — the silent film star who can’t sing or dance — and an outstanding ensemble cast, 12-piece orchestra (a record for the Players) and crew, “Singin’ in the Rain” gives you plenty of value for your entertainment dollar. NTP producing artistic director Nora Paine directs and fellow Players veterans G. Frank Meekins (musical director) and Sarah Walston Pilllips (choreographer) deliver a toe-tapping, tap-dancing, rollicking good time.
The title song, of course, is a timeless classic, but we also loved Ricardo’s “Make ‘Em Laugh,” Kyle and Olivia’s “You Were Meant for Me,” NTP vet Kyle Fisher singing “Beautiful Girls,” Olivia’s turn on “Good Morning” and the full company’s take on both “Broadway Melody” and the reprise of “Singin’ in the Rain” that closes the show.
If you haven’t yet bought your tickets, there were seats still available for all of the following performances:
Tonight at 8 p.m.
Tomorrow (Sunday, July 20) at 3 p.m. (only a couple of single seats left)
Friday-Saturday, July 26-27, at. 8 p.m.
Saturday, July 27, at 3 p.m.
Sunday, July 28, at 3 p.m.
Visit NewTampaPlayers.org to get yours or visit the NTPAC box office at 8550 Hunters Village Rd., Tampa 33647!
